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The Scottish Arts Council (SAC) is pooling its Lottery capital funds for the next three years into a single fund with only one application deadline. The decision to restructure its capital funding has been taken in an attempt to minimise the consequences of a predicted reduction in arts revenues from the National Lottery.
A spokesperson for SAC said ?In order to make best use of the funds we expect to be available we have consolidated resources.? The single deadline, in October of this year, is designed to give SAC the opportunity to ensure funding is spread geographically and across artforms. Iain Munro, Head of Capital at SAC said ?we will not be seeking to limit the size or nature of the projects?, but the total level of funding will be limited. Around £16m is expected to be available for capital Lottery projects over a three year period: for the single year 2003/2004 the fund was £9m. An additional fund of £2m in each of the three years will be retained to cover applications for small capital awards of £250,000 or less. Projects currently under review are unaffected by the consolidation. Results from Camelot, the National Lottery operator, show that ticket sales fell overall by 5.4% in 2002/2003, and the decline in sales has continued through the current financial year causing a knock-on effect on the funds available to Lottery distributors.